


The Depth of the Ocean

by DawnOfTomorrow



Series: Blue [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Lilia is a sea witch, M/M, Magic, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Pining, Victor is a merman, Yuuri is a cecealia, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22449031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnOfTomorrow/pseuds/DawnOfTomorrow
Summary: Mermaid AU – Victor, a merman falls in love with Yuuri, a half-squid creature, and makes an ill-advised deal with a sea witch in order to be able to get closer to him. He trades his tail for legs and moves to an island, where he spends his days singing for his love. Eventually, he manages to strike up a friendship with him, but will the shy creature let him into his heart as easily?
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Series: Blue [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105079
Comments: 11
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

Victor loved the ocean.

He always had. It was his realm, in more than just one way. Sure, he was nobility among his people, but even if he hadn’t been, he would have loved the freedom of it all. He never envied the land-dwellers, not for a minute.

Swimming near the bottom of the water, weaving through the corals, the algae, startling up schools of fish… Victor loved it all.

Mostly.

It was also incredibly lonely. A given, what with the size of the body of water – that was how he had rationalised it at first. Then… then he’d realised that he felt just as alone among his people. He slowly lost his love a little bit.

The things he enjoyed slowly got less fun, and his world started to lose colour more and more.

Until… until one day, when he was on his way back from visiting an old teacher of his.

He’d just left her cave, was on his way back home, when he heard an unusual sound – humming. There weren’t many people that voluntarily went near Lilia’s cave, and even fewer were happy enough to hum when they left.

If they left.

Not all of her deals… allowed that.

He followed the sound, and easily found its origin – a young merman.

Victor could only see half of him – the top half. His tail and fins were hidden by a barrier of rocks, but it was still obvious what he was doing. He was… dancing. Victor studied the man. He had pale skin – a whiter shade than his own, and dark hair.

Their colouring couldn’t have been more different – brushing a strand of his near-white hair behind his pointed ear, he looked on as the man twirled around, arms moving about as he did. Victor’s skin was a pale pink – the antithesis to his light blue tail and fins.

The man swimming just a few feet away from him… he was different. Beautiful.

Victor was spell-bound, wishing to be able to see more of him. He wanted to see what the man’s tail looked like, how it would move in the water. The man’s features looked a little exotic to him – he couldn’t place what it was.

So, he decided to sneak a little closer.

He didn’t get far – a sound, a clanging in the distance startled the dancer out of his rhythm. It made him flinch, swim up… and Victor was in for the shock of a lifetime.

The dancer wasn’t a merman at all. He was a cecealia – half-man, half-squid. He had long, dark grey tentacles, marked with swirls of lighter grey. They were as startlingly beautiful as the rest of him was. The man still hadn’t noticed him hiding behind the rocks – he was looking around though, for the source of the noise.

Victor suppressed the urge to call out to him. He wanted to. He REALLY wanted to… but he couldn’t. Well, he could, but it wouldn’t go well. His kind – mermen – and cecealias didn’t get along. Never had. Cecealias hated mermen. With a passion. He was much more likely to be attacked by the other than to be able to strike up a friendly conversation and that… that wouldn’t do.

The cecealia’s people were one of the few that favoured humans over other mer-creatures like him or even sea witches – they were unusual in more than one way, but that particular one was the most immediate issue for Victor.

So he ducked lower behind the rock, making sure his usually fanned-out fins were pulled in tightly and hidden as well.

Thankfully, the man didn’t seem too concerned by the sound – Victor had worried he would flee. Instead, he settled on one of the rocks and started running his hands down each tentacle. He seemed to be massaging them a little – Victor wondered if it was like when his tail cramped after dancing sometimes.

He took the time to note more details about the other man. The grey colouring from his tentacles was marled with darker and lighter shades – almost black and almost white, but only in the right light, it seemed. It all made for a beautiful pattern, far more so than the broad translucent stripes on his own fins.

Victor had always taken pride in his appearance – he had large, fanned out fins, the sort that was rare among even his people. He spent a lot of time caring for them – as he did for his hair. He usually kept the silver tresses in a braid over his shoulder, decorated with beads and small seashells.

He felt painfully inadequate next to the man’s natural beauty. He wasn’t wearing any sort of adornments – not like him. Victor was covered in necklaces, chains, cuffs… and they didn’t look half as good as the swirls nature had given the other man.

Just then, he seemed satisfied with the state of his appendages, as he got off the rock, and assumed a pose. Victor held his breath, waiting for him to move.

It didn’t take long – nor did the realisation that he’d misjudged the other. He’d clearly underestimated how good his dancing was. Unlike Victor, who incorporated loops and rolls and somersaults into his dancing, the cecealia seemed to dance more like a ground-dweller might. Upright, his tentacles moving in a measured and even pace, arms following a tune only he could hear.

Victor felt like he could almost hear it – he certainly wanted to.

He struggled to find a name for the feeling that started to spread through him as he watched. It was a kind of warmth, a kind of joy he'd never experienced before. It felt... wonderful.

Once again, he suppressed the urge to swim up to the other – it wouldn’t go well.

That was a problem – He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted something as much as he did the creature dancing before him. He watched, for a very long time, as the other moved. He was spell-bound, unaware of how much time had even passed when, without so much as a pause, the dance ended, and the man swam off.

He was _fast_ – Victor hadn’t expected him to move so quickly, not with the weight of his appendages holding him down. Apparently, he had been wrong – he was still staring when the other man had disappeared from sight.

Victor was left alone again – lonely.

Except… except he wasn’t okay with that anymore.

He spun around and swam towards Lilia’s cave as fast as his tail would let him.

He had a deal to make.


	2. Chapter 2

“You want WHAT?” Lilia screeched, her already unpleasantly high voice ringing through the cave.

Victor waited semi-patiently for her to calm down – much as she had a temper, she also tended to calm down again fairly quickly.

“I said, I want legs. Human legs. I want to make a deal with you.”

“WHY?”

Well…

“Because I’m in love. And I need to be human in order to be able to woo him.”

“Victor, this is nonsense.”

The sea witch angrily flicked her eel-like tail through the water. He had no idea how she managed to swim with the long, thin appendage, but she did.

“No, it’s what I want. So make a deal with me. That’s what you do, right? Your magic can give me legs.”

The witch groaned.

“Well… yes. But Victor, this is madness. I can’t let you do this.”

He fluffed up his fins to their most impressive.

“Name your price.”

“No.”

“Name your price.”

“Victor…”

“Name. Your. Price.”

The sea with hissed darkly, before shaking her head.

“No price… but a condition. I can give you legs. You can swim to the land, and you’ll grow legs once your tail dries… however, you can never go back to the ocean. You can touch the water, but if you are fully submerged, you will die. You will turn to seafoam. Is this… love of yours worth that?”

Victor thought about his life for a moment. The boredom, the monotony, the greyscale of it all. Then his mind wandered to the cecealia – the excitement he’d felt watching him dance, the admiration, the emotion.

It wasn’t even a competition.

“Cast the spell.”

“Oh no my dear, it’s not a spell. It’s a curse. I’ll fetch it for you.”

Victor waited patiently as she half-swam and half-slithered across the cave. She waved her hand in front of a piece of rock and revealed what looked to be a small nook filled with pearls. They were quite pretty, but before he could get a better look, she had picked one and come back – the nook disappeared from sight.

“Here. This pearl has the magic you want. Swallow it just before you reach the beach. Take a last breath underwater and then get out of the ocean. You only have this one attempt.”

He took the small pearl carefully, stashing it in a pouch he kept on a string around his hips. He wasn’t about to risk losing it by not being careful.

“Victor… is this really what you want? What about your family? Friends?”

He shrugged.

“They’d understand. My father is a romantic, and my mother…well, they’ll be fine. Thank you for your help, Lilia.”

“I’m not helping you! In fact, once you’ve taken it, I can’t help you.”

Victor had swum out of the cave before her words registered.

They didn’t slow him down in the slightest.

Grinning madly to himself, he swam as fast as his tail let him. He knew of an island nearby – a few minutes away, at most. He knew there were humans on it, but not a lot. Most had left on ships some time ago – he didn’t much care about humans. It made the island the perfect spot for his purpose though. He swam close to it, closer than he’d dared before.

Picking the pearl out of his bag, he wondered what being human would feel like – would it hurt? Would he know how to walk?

He knew he probably should have asked more questions before leaving Lilia, but…

Well, truthfully, there were several things he should have done.

Say goodbye to his parents, to his student. His friends, even. He wasn’t being very nice to them by leaving… but then, they would have just tried to stop him.

Gently placing the pearl on his tongue, he looked up and broke through the water. Looking around the beach, he was glad to find it empty. So, he dove back down and closer to the shore, pearl sitting in his mouth. He was relieved to find that it tasted of nothing… even if it made his mouth tingle a little.

When he was close enough, he took a deep breath to centre himself before swallowing the pearl.

Using his considerable strength, he swam up, launching himself out of the water and onto the soft sand at the beach that was about to become his new home.


	3. Chapter 3

The very first thing Victor learned about living on the land is that the soft sand he often played with under water was NOT soft outside of said water. He landed on it, expecting a gentle impact – instead, his body practically bounced, and he rolled a few steps, the wind knocked out of him.

He also discovered that the sand was hot – not unbearably so, but more than what was comfortable. Awkwardly using his arms to push himself up, he looked around the beach. There were a few seashells and even a crab around, but not much else. He was truly… alone.

Flipping onto his back, he sighed.

He was used to being alone.

After a few moments of catching his breath, he looked down his body – he had no idea when his tail would change, or how long it would take.

The process was… fascinating. As the sun dried the scales on his legs, they disappeared – slowly changed to match the skin on his arms and torso. With each patch of skin revealed, his tail split a little further as well – until he had a pair of human legs, no scales in sight. It was entirely painless if a little itchy.

That wasn’t the only change – the slight webbing between his fingers had faded and his hair – no matter how well taken care of – no longer hung past his shoulders. It was short, with merely a section dangling over his face. It was darker too, as far as he could tell.

It took him a few moments to figure out how to move – wriggling his toes was not quite the same as moving his fins around.

With that figured out, he decided to tackle the next hurdle – walking.

He knew it involved balancing on his legs, but he wasn’t even quite sure how to get on them – they were fairly long and didn’t seem to be well-suited to standing on. How did the humans do it?

After a few failed attempts, he managed to get into a crouching position – his knees tucked to his chest, hands on the ground to keep his balance.

All in all… not the worst feeling in the world.

Confidently, he pushed up, straightened out, ready to take his first step into this new adventure…

And fell face-first into the sand, barely able to catch himself with his arms out.

That… would take some more practice, he realised.

A lot more.

By the time he was sort of wobbling ahead on his legs, he was hungry, annoyed and in pain. His skin had started turning pink and was aching, yet he’d still not managed to so much as walk off the beach. With the sand moving underneath him, it felt impossible.

It wasn’t until he reached a different type of ground – grass – that he realised walking on sand was just unreasonably difficult. Although still wobbly, he found it much easier to walk towards what he knew to be a small town once he reached firmer ground.

It didn’t help his hunger though – he realised he had no idea about how to get food on land – he didn’t think catching fish was going to be as easy if he couldn’t swim. His best bet was to ask for help in the village he’d seen on the other side of the island.

He made it most of the way to the village when a sound startled him – a rustling of leaves nearby. He froze, instinctively, to see what had made the noise.

It was… a human.

Possibly a wild animal, he wasn’t sure.

Of the limited number of humans he’d seen, this one was by far the largest. He was nearly as wide as he was tall, seemed to be fairly old, and was quite… hairy. Victor gulped. The man had noticed him and was staring with a frown.

“What are you doing here?”

“I…uh… I’m hungry? So I came looking for… food?”

“Naked. In the forest. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“No. I’m just… new to the island?”

The man looked him up and down.

“New to the island, huh. Come along. I’ll feed you, give you some clothes. You can’t go to the village like this.”

He considered running for a moment – never mind the fact that he wasn’t sure he knew how – before his grumbling stomach made the decision to trust the man instead. He awkwardly followed after him… to a surprisingly lovely-looking cabin.

“My name is Yakov. This is my house. Sit, I will bring you food.”

“I’m Victor.” He mumbled before sitting on a log next to what seemed to be a fire pit.

Victor had never really seen fire before – not up close. It was… pleasant. He was fully absorbed in staring at it when the man – Yakov – returned with a bundle of clothes. He practically threw them at Victor, who scrambled to catch them.

He pulled on the two shirts fairly easily – having a second one really made him feel warmer. The pants… he had NO idea how to get into them, so he just helplessly stared while Yakov stoked the fire. He was worried the other would figure out he wasn’t human if he asked for help… but he also couldn’t stay naked.

“It’s easier when you sit. Just put your feet through.” Yakov gruffly remarked.

Victor complied hastily, pleased when he successfully closed the drawstring around his middle. It felt… constricting. Unpleasantly so. He didn’t like the chafe of the fabric on his skin. Of course, he wasn’t about to complain either. He hadn’t even considered the necessity for clothes although he had seen humans wear them.

“Thank you for the clothes.”

“It’s nothing. Have some food. Fried mackerel.”

The man handed him a stick with several small, burnt fish on it. They looked quite… icky.

Still, he was starving, so he took a bite, then another. The smoky taste wasn’t his thing, but it wasn’t as bad as expected either. He’d wolfed down the fish in no time – much faster than Yakov ate his.

“So I guess you have no place to sleep?”

“Not really.”

“You’re a lot of trouble, boy.”

He didn’t know what to say to that, so he kept quiet.

“There is a cabin. Up the cliff. The owner has left. It’s probably dirty, but you can stay there for now.”

That was… more than he’d expected from the man. Yakov’s attitude was rough, but he seemed kind enough. He led Victor to a small cabin – smaller than his house. It only had one room – and… well, Yakov left him there.

It wasn’t how he had envisioned his first day on land, but it was better than nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

Victor was woken by a pounding – a loud noise, unpleasant to his ears. It came from the door. He hastily struggled free of the blanket and tried to open it, only to thump down on the floor quite hard. He’d forgotten about the leg thing.

A few shaky steps later, he made it to the door… and found nobody there. The only thing he could see was a basket in front of his door – filled with something that smelled absolutely delicious. It was warm to the touch – no doubt, whatever it was, Yakov had brought it for him.

Carefully, he broke apart and ate the food he was given – it was quite a lot.

He set the empty basket back outside by his door and, after thinking about it for a few moments, picked around the house for a few flowers, and put those in the basket as well. He’d have taken the basket back if he had more faith in his ability to walk… and if he hadn’t been preoccupied with something else.

The cecealia.

He had a plan on how to attract the man to himself, and he was fairly confident in it. He’d spotted that his cabin sat mere feet away from a low cliff – only a dozen or so feet high, really, but leading straight into the ocean.

It was the perfect spot.

He sat by the edge, just a few feet back from the drop, and cleared his throat.

Victor was the best singer in his entire community. He always had been. He knew his voice carried for miles, and he knew that he had enough magic to make it reach even further – to the right ears, at least.

So he sat there and sang. Mermaid songs weren’t words, per se – they were emotions, feelings, and desires given sounds. His desire was clear – he wanted to meet the dancing man again. He wanted to know him. He wanted… him.

By the time the sun set, his throat felt raw and dry. That had never happened underwater – it was very unpleasant, actually.

What was worse was that there had been no trace of the cecealia – none at all.

He’d attracted some dolphins, even a few fish, but not the creature he’d wanted to see.

He gave up when it got so dark that he could hardly see the ground underneath his feet anymore and returned to his cabin. He’d try again in the morning.

To his surprise, the basket was full again, this time with wrinkled-looking meat and a container of some sort. Opening it, he found it to contain water – a different kind than the ocean, though. It smelled sweeter. He tentatively sipped some and found that it eased the pain in his throat considerably.

Chewing some of the meat, he set the rest inside and put the basket back. He realised he’d have to find a way to make it up to the old man – maybe if he found a way to catch fish, he could bring him some.

That was a big if, though. He was only really getting the hang of walking after all.


	5. Chapter 5

A week or so later, and Victor was getting desperate. He’d spent every day, on that cliff, singing. From sunrise until sunset. Every day. He occasionally took breaks only if the sun got too hot, or if he found something to bring to Yakov.

Given his inability to really provide for himself, he’d taken to giving Yakov gifts in exchange for food. Pretty rocks, the odd seashell, flowers… once, a feather from a bird he found near a tree. He hardly saw the old man in person – he seemed to prefer it that way, though he always took what Victor left for him.

It was confusing… and not nearly as upsetting as his inability to draw the attention of the cecealia he missed so dearly. Victor KNEW his voice was beautiful, and that it HAD to carry far enough. He was sure of it. He’d seen the occasional mermaid and merman pop their head out of the water, actually, so being too quiet wasn’t the problem.

He had no idea what the problem was.

A week grew into a month, and he was starting to find it harder to keep going. He knew that his songs didn’t sound as joyful, or as happy anymore. He did his best to keep calling out, but it was hard, singing to nothing, hoping like he had been.

It was getting harder every day.

Eventually, a day came when his voice simply… stilled. It wasn’t that he couldn’t sing, or even that his voice was gone, but he had simply run out of things to sing to the other. Although it was barely half-way through the day, he sat up on the cliff, his legs dangling off of it the way he preferred to sit now, in silence.

The ocean moving below him was the only sound he could hear… that and his silence where he wanted there to be words.

Unwilling to force a song that didn’t come naturally to him, he simply sat there… mute.

It was maybe an hour, two hours past noon that he first saw the water move.

Now, it was the ocean. It always moved, of course, but this was different – too symmetrical, too coordinated to be simply the uneven wash of the tides. His eyes focused on the spot a few feet away from the cliffs all too easily.

At first, he thought what he saw was just a piece of algae floating to the top. It happened sometimes, the long dark green strands separating from the bottom and floating up, but he quickly realised this was something different. It was too thin, too fine to be algae.

He figured it out a heartbeat before pale skin and brown eyes broke through the water’s surface and stared at him.

The cecealia.

He’d come. Victor would know that face anywhere, even cautiously looking at him from a distance as he was. He held his breath, scared to startle the other away. He approached Victor slowly, cautiously swimming closer, only his head poking out of the water, and even then only half of it. His mouth was still underwater.

Heart racing in his chest, he wondered how to greet the other – what to say. He’d spent a month desperately hoping to attract the other but now… now he had no clue what to say. He gulped.

“Hello there.” He eventually greeted the other, when he’d swum as close as he seemed willing to do.

A faint pink flush rose to his cheeks on Victor’s words – he had to resist the urge to tip forwards and off the cliff. That just wouldn’t do. The man perked a little further out of the water.

“You… stopped singing?” A clear, surprisingly pleasant voice asked a moment later. He hadn’t known what to expect from the other, but it hadn’t been the soft tones that he spoke with.

Victor forced himself to nod.

“Why? Are you sick? Injured?”

“N-No. You’ve… heard me sing?” He hardly dared to hope – had he really reached the man he’d fallen in love with? He’d been so ready to give up hope…

“Yes. Every day when I do my chores. You have a lovely voice.”

Victor’s heart skipped a beat at the compliment.

“Wow! And you… got worried because I stopped?”

The young man nodded, his button nose briefly dipping underneath the surface of the water. Victor noticed that he couldn’t see through it at all – he could in other parts. Clearly, the man had put on some kind of glamour to hide himself.

“Are you… hurt?”

Victor’s hand snapped to his throat.

“No, I’m not. I just… I got really tired of singing for no audience. I just… couldn’t do it anymore.” There, that was close to the truth. To know that his feelings had reached the other… he wanted to dance.

The cecealia hummed.

“I see. But… weren’t you singing for someone? It sounded like you were.”

Victor’s breath whooshed out of his chest as if he’d been punched. The man was… perceptive.

“Maybe. I was… lonely. I guess I was trying to call for someone to come to me.”

The other man nodded again, his eyes darting around a little. Victor was desperately trying to think of things to say when to his embarrassment, his stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten much that day – he’d struggled for a few days, actually, Yakov’s food tasting bland.

Now, he felt ravenous.

The creature’s beautiful honey-brown eyes widened.

“Are you hungry?”

“I… well… yes?”

“… Do you eat fish?”

“Yes?”

A stunning smile brightened up his features, nearly taking Victor’s breath away.

“Great! Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

With those words, and before Victor could even think to ask him to stay, he dove under and disappeared from sight. Victor leaned back a little, a hand over his heart, hoping to calm it.


	6. Chapter 6

He hadn’t expected the other man to appear to check why he had stopped singing – he could hardly appreciate his obvious concern, actually. It was… sweet. Kind. It made the beautiful creature into something even more…perfect.

He was still trying to come up with new adjectives to praise him with when just a few minutes later, a soft splash alerted him to the man’s return. Indeed, he was in the same spot as before, maybe a little closer, actually. This time, more of him was above the water – his arms and shoulders as well.

He flushed at the way the water and sunlight glistened on his skin.

“I’m back. I brought you some fish.”

“Thank you?” He asked, not quite sure what to say… or what to do.

“Can you come down to the shore?” The creature asked, head tilting to one side.

Victor immediately shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m… scared of the ocean.”

Something like understanding flashed across the creature’s face. It wasn’t true of course – he wasn’t scared of the ocean at all, but now that his desperate wishing had finally born fruit, he WAS terrified of turning to sea foam. He couldn’t risk it.

“That’s okay. Here, I’ll throw them up to you!” The young man declared before reaching down under the water to pull on something. It was string – a piece of string woven around the tails of several fairly big fish.

They seemed too heavy to throw, at least to him, but the cecealia lifted them with one arm and casually had them sailing over to him with a practiced throw. He caught them fairly easily, struggling a little with their weight.

“Thank you.” He offered, studying the gifts. He wondered if the other man was aware that offering food was a sort of courting gift to show off hunting prowess among his people. He shook off the thought – the cecealia didn’t even know who his people were. That was the whole point of him getting legs.

“Ah, the little yellow one is safe to eat raw. I’ve seen humans catch and eat it that way. I don’t know about the others.”

Victor untied the knot in the string and freed the decidedly-not-little yellow fish from it. Not wanting to be rude – and genuinely feeling hungry now – he snapped off the head, set it aside, and bit into the soft flesh. It was delicious – he hadn’t eaten fish in ages.

Yakov didn’t fish, and he didn’t know how to himself – he’d missed it. Happily humming, he devoured the fish. It really did taste nice.

When he was done, he tossed the remains back into the water, away from the man who had given it to him, before turning his attention back to him… only to discover he had, apparently watched him eat.

Swallowing the last bite, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I’m sorry! Would you like one as well?”

To his surprise, the other shook his head.

“No, thank you. I don’t eat fish.”

“No? Then what do you eat?”

The young man shrugged.

“Algae. Seaweed. Some corals. Mussels. Plenty of things.”

Victor gulped.

“Thank you for bringing me the fish. My… my name is Victor.”

There was no reply for a few moments – then that stunning smile reappeared on the other’s face.

“My name is Yuuri. Will you sing again?”

Victor nodded eagerly.

“Yes! Every day, if you’d like.”

“Mh.”

To Victor’s disappointment, the cecealia – _Yuuri_ – disappeared under the surface again, a moment later. He knew the other man wouldn’t be back… at least not then and there.

If he managed to lure him once though, he’d hopefully manage to lure him again.

Victor opened his mouth and sang – for the first time in over a month, he WANTED to sing again.


	7. Chapter 7

That night, he brought the rest of his fish to Yakov – the old man was surprisingly pleased, as far as he could tell. Victor didn’t know why he didn’t fish himself – the man was certainly a skilled survivalist. He explained to Victor, in short barks, how to prepare each type of fish.

Yuuri had brought him quite the variety – not that he told Yakov where he got the fishes from.

Yakov didn’t ask either – that suited him quite well. He was happy to share his gift with Yakov. If nothing else, he owed the man repayment for all he’d done for Victor. He was equally glad the man didn’t ask about what he was doing – he had to have heard Victor sing.

At least, he assumed so.

After spending an evening with the old man, Victor went to bed early. He slept better than he had in a while, and he woke with a smile for a change.

He was up on his cliff earlier than ever… but with a small addition. He had taken one of that morning’s loaves of bread – Yakov had taught him a fair bit about human food – with him. Just in case Yuuri reappeared… he wanted to return the favour, offer him some food too.

So, he sang – truly happy, for the first time in a while.

He sang until after the sun set, until his throat hurt again, and he still went home happy.

Victor had no idea how long it would take for Yuuri to reappear, but he firmly believed that he WOULD come back.

And he… Victor would wait for him.

He would wait, and he would sing.

Until Yuuri came back.

So he sang – always some fresh bread, or something similar from Yakov by his side… just in case.

It was another few weeks before he caught a glimpse of Yuuri again, but even when he did, the man did not approach… not even when Victor waved to him.

The next day though, when Victor came to the cliff, there was another string with fishes sitting there, near the edge, waiting. He took them to Yakov again, before resuming his spot on the cliff and singing.

Victor loved it, loved the feel of singing for someone… even if that someone didn’t necessarily know it was for them.

Now that he knew Yuuri, that they had spoken… he felt like he could keep singing for the other forever.

Thankfully, he didn’t need to.

Just another few days later, he noticed that same movement in the water, just underneath his cliff. Much closer this time. He kept singing, even when Yuuri came up and started playing around in the water underneath him.

He waited a few minutes, let his melody trail off naturally, before peeking down at the other man with what he hoped not to be a besotted smile.

He was aiming for… fond, not love-sick.

“Hello, Yuuri!”

“Hello again. Your song was very beautiful.”

“Thank you. I, uh, have something for you? If you’d like it?”

Yuuri swam a little further out, making it easier for Victor to look without having to crane his neck out. He knew he couldn’t see the very base of the cliff – there was a fair bit of overhang during high tide.

“You don’t have to give me things!”

Victor didn’t miss the delicious flush on the man’s cheeks.

“No, no, I wanted to. A thank you for the fish. Have you ever had human bread?”

The other man wrinkled his nose.

“No? Is it made of meat?”

“No! It’s not. It’s seeds. No meat. I have some here. I could toss it to you if you’d like?”

After some consideration, Yuuri nodded. Victor reached for the little basket – it contained a handful of small rolls. He threw one down – it landed perfectly in Yuuri’s hands. Though he wasn’t about to admit it, he’d practiced throwing things for some time. After he figured out walking, he’d realised that he also lacked some other, rather… fundamental skills.

Throwing things underwater was nothing like throwing them on land. So, he had practiced until he was confident in his skills.

Now, as Yuuri tentatively licked and then bit into the little loaf, it was well worth the trouble, he decided. He watched with rapt attention as the little loaf disappeared in no time at all. Victor had thrown him another one readily, and Yuuri caught and devoured it just as quickly.

“Do you like them?” He asked, incredibly happy that his offering had pleased the other man. Yuuri may not necessarily have realised yet – or maybe he had, Victor didn’t know – but he was fully intending on wooing and courting the other man to the best of his ability.

Knowing what Yuuri liked would only make it easier.

“They’re very good. Thank you.”

“Would you like another?”

The cecealia cleared his throat.

“No, thank you. I don’t want to gain weight.”

Victor chuckled – no doubt he would look just as lovely if he was a bit chubbier.

“… Your singing is beautiful. Like always.” Yuuri remarked rather shyly.

Before he could so much as think of a reply, Yuuri had blushed a deeper shade of red and ducked back under the surface.

Victor was fairly certain that the other would not be back that day… sadly, he was not wrong. His love was fairly skittish, it seemed.

Victor ate the last few rolls himself, already planning ahead for his next encounter with Yuuri.


	8. Chapter 8

There wasn’t exactly any kind of rhyme or reason to his visits, at least not that Victor could tell. He seemed to come by at least once a week, but rarely on the same day, and always with at least a few days in-between visits.

The surprising schedule made it impossible to predict just when he would come – naturally, Victor always kept food for him, just in case. Yuuri seemed to enjoy what he offered, and he usually brought some fish as well.

Victor carefully kept track of what the other man liked best, making sure to bring more of those dishes when he had them. It seemed to be going well. Yuuri visited him more and more, and his visits got longer, too.

They didn’t always talk – sometimes the cecealia would simply splash around in the water before leaving again. Other times he would ask about his singing, his food, his family…

It hurt Victor a little that he couldn’t tell the truth about what he was, but he took comfort in the fact that Yuuri didn’t share much about himself either.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true – they learned all sorts of things about each other. Their favourite colours, their favourite time of day, their favourite fish… Just no details about their identities, really. Victor was all too well aware that Yuuri continuously hid his form from him, only ever let him see him from the shoulders up.

It made Victor want to push further, just a little. To get… closer. He was all too well aware that Yuuri kept up walls that he liked to hide behind… and Victor wanted to be allowed past them.

It was because of that that he decided to change their routine a bit. He’d spent enough time on the island to know his way around it a little, so he carefully ambled to a piece of beach that led fairly flat into the water. He was careful enough to stay away, mindful of Lilia’s warnings.

He missed the ocean, a fair bit, actually, but it was nothing compared to the joy he felt every time that mop of jet-black hair broke through the surface of the water. As luck would have it, he found a rock that started flat and stuck out fairly far into the water. He sat on top of it – dangling his legs, he only just didn’t touch the water. It was perfect. He sang – like he always did – and hoped that the change in routine would attract Yuuri, even though it had only been two days since their last meeting.

It worked.

He’d developed something of a sixth sense for the other man’s appearances, actually. He’d lost a fair bit of his shyness, luckily, so he came up much more confidently now. As expected, he did so on the far side of the rock, in the deepest part.

Victor trailed off his singing, eager to greet his friend.

His lover, if he could only play his cards right.

“Hello, Yuuri!”

“Hi… This is different from usual.”

“Mh. I decided that I should probably… work on my fear. Of the ocean. Do you mind?”

“No, not at all. Are you going to… swim?”

“No, no. I don’t think that’s for me. Why don’t you… can you come out? It’s flat here.”

To his disappointment, Yuuri drifted away from him a little, his expression stricken.

“Sorry, Victor. I can’t… exactly come out. Sorry. I’m not… I’m a little unusual. Not like other people.”

Victor stared at him for a very long time.

“Yuuri… you know that I know that you’re not human, right?”

Going by the cecealia’s expression, he… had not.

Victor was more than a bit baffled by that.

“Uhm…” The man stuttered, his panic clearly increasing by the second.

“Oh Yuuri… I never thought you were a human? I mean, you can swim incredibly fast, you always appear at the bottom of that cliff and… you caught those fish? I can’t believe you didn’t know I knew! Is that why you hide in the water? I don’t mind, I promise.”

“Well… what do you think I am, then?” His tone was cautious – apprehensive, even.

Victor shrugged – he knew the truth, but he rather figured that he couldn’t say so without making the other suspicious. Most humans probably didn’t even know Yuuri’s kind existed. So, he went with a more generic answer.

“Some sort of magical sea creature, right?”

Yuuri shrugged.

“Yes. Do you… know about mermaids?”

“A little.”

“Well… I’m something similar. Except… not fish.”

“Yuuri… it’s okay, whatever you are. Why don’t you… come sit with me? Up here? If you want.”

Victor’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest. He knew he was pushing it – knew he may well startle the other away.

He patted the dry stone by his side, pleased when Yuuri didn’t flee immediately. The dark shade that always hid his body in the water was slowly fading away until Victor could see his outline more easily. He already knew what to expect – the faint outline of tentacles. They didn’t bother him – never had.

He knew just how much grace they were capable of, even if he wasn’t exactly used to seeing them up close. Still, he smiled encouragingly at Yuuri – clearly, the other man had expected more of a reaction than he’d gotten if his face was anything to go by. Victor assumed a real human would be scared… but he wasn’t human.

When Victor didn’t recoil or react, Yuuri took a deep breath.

“Step back a little?” He requested, and Victor easily complied. He wasn’t sure what the man was planning, but he was all for it if it brought them closer together. So, he shuffled back toward the shore, keen to see what Yuuri would do.

The man dove under with a splash, before coming back up a few moments later. He’d clearly been trying to gain momentum because he leapt up from the water completely – it was a splendid sight, one Victor vowed to forever burn into his mind.

Yuuri landed on the very edge of the rock, his tentacles seemingly holding him there with ease. Victor could only see three of them – he knew the rest were likely hidden on the underside of the rock, probably also to not scare him.

Yeah right.

His apprehension and fear was fairly obvious on his face – he was scared of Victor’s reaction. It was… wonderful. Victor loved that the other man cared about his opinion. He eagerly reached for his little basket of food – bread, again, but sweet, one of Yuuri’s favourites.

He held it out to the other man.

“Here! I brought this for you.”

Yuuri hesitated for a long time before accepting the basket.

“Thank you… you’re not… scared? By me?”

“What? No, of course not! We’re friends, right?”

“Mhm.”

Yuuri bit into his snack while Victor watched with rapt attention. He was well aware that the other had placed a lot of trust in him, and Victor was terrified he might accidentally scare the other one-off again.

To his relief… that didn’t happen. Yuuri finished his snack, said his goodbye and disappeared again.

Almost as if nothing had happened… except he knew it had. He had gotten one step closer to his beloved.

That night, Victor danced for the first time since he’d gotten his human legs. He’d never enjoyed it more.


	9. Chapter 9

They continued like that. With every visit, Yuuri got less and less self-conscious around him. They often met on the rock now, and Yuuri would sit on the edge willingly, without needing to be prompted. He stiffened up if Victor got too close, but he wasn’t nearly as skittish anymore.

Victor, naturally, was over the moon.

He started giving Yuuri other gifts as well – a necklace of pieces of coral that washed up on the beach, and a bracelet carved from a seashell he found. Well, technically Yakov did most of the carving after Victor cut himself in his first, second and third attempts, but he thought he at least deserved credit for trying.

Yuuri’s brilliant blushes and the way he was constantly wearing the necklace and bracelet whenever they met made Victor feel warm inside. The other man was still bringing him fish – he shared it with Yakov in exchange for other food. Neither Yuuri nor Yakov knew of each other – he had no idea how the human would react to his somewhat unusual companion.

Said companion was skittish enough around him – he didn’t want to stress him out by introducing Yakov to him, even if he and the old man slowly got closer. He was nice, kind under that gruff barking exterior.

Yuuri, in the meantime, was neither gruff nor barking. He was soft and sweet – far more than Victor could have hoped for. The only thing that puzzled him was taking the next step – he had no idea how to confess his feelings to the other man… or if they were returned.

He knew that Yuuri found him attractive – the blushes gave that away, as did the stuttering. Anything past that though… Victor wasn’t sure.

“Victor? Did you hear me?”

“Hm?”

“I asked if you were… going to finish that?”

He blinked twice at his cecealia friend. Yuuri was hungrily eyeing the roll in his hands. He had spaced out completely. Chuckling, he handed it over. Yuuri had started to get a little chubbier around the middle – it was a good look.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

“Mh, that’s okay. Thank you for the food… as always.”

“Of course. I’m glad you enjoy it. Say, you never tell me too much about yourself. Do you have a lover? A wife? Husband?”

Yuuri coloured red.

“V-Victor! No comment!”

He pouted – not that he’d had high hopes for his question, but he’d still figured he might get an answer.

“W-What about you?”

“Mh? No, it’s just me.”

For a moment, Yuuri gave him a long, searching look.

“Isn’t it lonely?”

Victor smiled weakly at his companion.

“A little. I do have a friend here. He helps me sometimes. And… well, I often have the most lovely company from the ocean.”

Yuuri blushed even darker.

“Thank you. V-Victor…are you still scared of the sea?”

“Ah… why?”

“I was… it’s not important.”

“No, tell me. Ohhh were you going to whisk me away from my island?”

Victor loved the idea… but Lilia’s magic prohibited it.

“No! Nothing like that. I just… I was going to show you something. You know… I’ve seen you dance? Sometimes. I can dance too? Underwater though. I thought I might show you.”

Victor’s heart clenched – he hadn’t even considered that he’d never get to see the other dance again. That… hurt him a little. Of course, he couldn’t say so – Yuuri couldn’t know.

“I’m sorry… I can maybe step into the water a bit, but no more.”

Yuuri got a determined expression on his face.

“Why don’t you do that? I’ll find a good spot!”

With that, he dropped off the rock and dipped under the water. Victor watched him as he swam along the shore at a rather incredible speed. The water wasn’t too shallow – Yuuri was able to get close. Victor, meanwhile, cautiously stepped off the rock and followed in the direction Yuuri had gone off.

He wasn’t too sure how to feel about what Yuuri was suggesting – he wasn’t keen on risking death by seafoam.

After a few minutes, Yuuri came back up and waved at him. Victor had gotten fairly quick on land, so he was able to catch up easily.

“So… what are we doing now?” He asked as he carefully approached the edge of the water. It was low tide – he could walk quite far.

“Now… well, try stepping into the water!”

To his surprise, Yuuri held out his hand. He was mostly submerged, from the stomach down, but Victor could still reach – well, if he took a few more steps, at the very least. The edge of the water was very nearly touching his toes… and it was scary.

Glancing back up at Yuuri, he forced himself to take a step forward, the cold water finally touching his skin. He took another step, and then one more – finally, he was about knee-deep in the water and close enough to touch Yuuri’s hand.

Their fingers linked together and the cecealia straightened up a little more, more of his grey tentacles exposed to the air. Victor knew that when the water dried the beautiful stripe pattern was nearly invisible. Up close, in the water, the difference was striking.

He did his best not to stare – he knew Yuuri was a little worried about his reaction still.

“So… what now?”

“Are you scared?”

“Mh, nervous. Not… scared. Not with you here.”

“That’s good. I’m not… scary either?”

“No, of course not. Why would you ask that?”

Yuuri shifted a little uncomfortably.

“Mh, well… I came across this girl once. She’d fallen off a boat and I brought her to shore. I was still really young. Well, I stayed and wanted to make sure she was okay. When she woke up… erm, she threw a seashell at my head. She was scared.”

Victor gasped in outrage.

“What? How rude!”

Yuuri shrugged.

“I can’t blame her. She was… scared. But you’re not. I’m glad you’re not.”

“No… never. I… really like you, Yuuri.”

For a moment, he was terrified that he’d said too much – then, Yuuri gave him the most brilliant smile.

“I like you too, Victor. It’s nice to come here sometimes. The sun feels nice. There isn’t much of it near the ocean floor.”

Victor blinked up at the sky – he had no particular feelings towards the sun. Before he could reply, Yuuri’s head snapped around like he was listening to something quite far away. Victor couldn’t hear it – certainly not with human ears.

“Is something wrong?”

Yuuri turned back.

“No, not really. I just… I have to go. A friend of mine is here to visit me. He was calling me.”

“Oh? I didn’t hear?”

Yuuri shrugged.

“I guess my hearing is a little better. I’m sorry, I really need to go.”

Victor nodded, though he couldn’t quite manage to hide his disappointment.

“I guess… I’ll see you in a few days?”

Yuuri ran a hand through his hair awkwardly.

“I… might not be able to come by? Not while he’s here. I’m sorry.”

“Oh… Well, you could bring him. If you’d like.”

His friend hesitated for a moment, before mumbling a quick ‘Maybe’ and practically scrambling away. Victor was left standing in the low water, looking after him. Not seeing the other man for an unspecified time wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time… but then, he was hoping Yuuri would at least enjoy himself.

Careful not to fall, Victor walked back to the dry sand, and ultimately back to his cabin.

He’d find a way to keep himself busy… probably.


	10. Chapter 10

Four days later, Victor was miserable. He’d spent the first two days hanging around Yakov and his home, but by the second evening, the old man kicked him out and told him to go home. That meant… well, it meant Victor was home, bored and alone.

He hadn’t felt like singing either, which left him with preciously few ways to spend the time. The fifth morning, he went to the cliff anyway. Staring out at the empty ocean, the waves moving, he found himself inspired.

The song fell from his lips almost on its own – he sang of loneliness, of missing his lover. It was eerie, even to his own ears, but he kept singing for an hour or so.

That was when he noticed movement in the water – under the cliff. He peeked over it eagerly, but Yuuri didn’t actually come up. Still, he kept singing for a little while – until the splashing under the cliff stopped.

The next day, it was the same thing again – splashing, but Yuuri didn’t show himself.

Victor was fully prepared for the same thing again, but that morning was different – when Victor got to the cliff, it was already… occupied. Not by Yuuri – or at least, not by his Yuuri. Instead, there was another Yuri – his former student, a boy he’d known all his life.

The young merman had a temper… and Victor could tell from a distance that said temper was flaring fully. He half-considered turning back and running away – Yuri couldn’t follow him there… but he also wasn’t that much of a coward.

He approached the other merman cautiously.

“Why hello Yuri! How did you find me?”

“How… did I find you? Are you serious? How did I… VICTOR! You can’t just run away! It’s been MONTHS!”

He laughed awkwardly.

“Oh has it? I hadn’t noticed. So… what’s up?”

“You! You need to come back home. Do you have any idea what sort of a mess you left behind?”

“I can’t come back. Sorry. I’m staying here.”

“Victor… I don’t know what sort of a mess or midlife crisis or whatever this is, but you are coming WITH ME.”

“Nope! Sorry!”

“Don’t make me come over there!” The merman hissed, his tail flicking in the air. It was an off-yellow and gold shade – pleasant, but more so underwater than above. As it was, it was flopping through the air uselessly.

“How, you don’t have legs. Also… Yuri, I’m sorry, but I don’t WANT to come back. I’m happy here.”

“Happy? You expect me to believe that? I’ve HEARD you sing these last few days! That’s not happy.”

Victor winced – so it hadn’t been ‘his’ Yuuri he’d seen under the cliff. That was… disappointing.

“Look, Yuri, I made a deal with a sea witch. I can’t go back in the ocean.”

The young man hissed at him.

“So what? Undo it. Redo it. Ask to change back or something.”

“I can’t.”

“You made a deal with Lilia? I can go to her and sort this.”

Victor ran a hand through his hair.

“It wasn’t Lilia. You think I’d be that stupid? I knew someone would come looking.” He lied – he certainly hadn’t… he hadn’t thought about it at all.

“So what, are you here for some… challenge? Adventure?”

“Love.” He corrected, getting a little closer to his old student.

“Love? Are you kidding me?”

“No, not at all.”

After hesitating for a moment, Victor sat next to Yuri so the other wouldn’t have to crane his neck and back awkwardly, feet dangling over the edge.

“This is stupid, Victor. Come back home. Whatever this is, it isn’t worth it.”

“No, it is. Either way, it’s my choice though.”

Yuri’s tail flicked around again, the scales drying more and more. He found himself irrationally missing his own for a few seconds – legs were fine, but he preferred his tail, ultimately.

“Victor!” Yuri hissed – he’d spaced out.

“Huh?”

“I SAID that I’m not taking no for an answer. You are coming back with me, today!”

Before he could reject the other again, a firm hand gripped his wrist. Before he could pull away, Yuri rolled himself away, dropping off the cliff. Victor saw the ledge approach, his arm twisted uncomfortably, and then… then he was falling.

With a scream, he scrambled for a hold on the ledge. He very nearly missed it, but at the last moment, he managed to grab hold of something. His fingers closed around one of the rocks at the top, despite the painful tug and pop in his arm when Yuri’s weight pulled on him.

He nearly lost his grip, feet kicking in the air.

Victor kept his eyes closed, desperately trying to hold on, when his feet connected with something – something soft. A moment later, the weight dragging him down disappeared. He realised what had happened a moment later – he’d managed to kick Yuri in the stomach, apparently. He immediately tried to scramble up and back to safety.

His free hand was vainly trying to get a grip – there was too much loose gravel, too many smooth and wet areas.

Feet still uselessly kicking in the air, he was gasping, tears stinging in his eyes – he wasn’t ready to die, he wasn’t ready for things to be over. Glancing down, he could see that the water was in turmoil – Yuri. He was probably going to try again.

Victor grunted and redoubled his efforts – the hold he had was starting to slip, his fingers getting sweaty. He only half-managed to kick against the underside of the cliff, to push up a little, when a screech – inhumanly high and nearly ear-piercing sounded in the air.

It made him shudder, instinctively – something was wrong, he was sure of it. It wasn’t his most immediate problem though – teeth clenched, he managed to get his elbow up on the ledge and pull himself up a little more.

His arms were already burning – even his legs were getting tired when, quite suddenly, the edge he was hanging on… gave.

With a scream, he fell backward – down the cliff… to a certain death.


	11. Chapter 11

Instead of death, he found himself in a pair of firm arms. His back connected with something, and hard – with the wind knocked out of him, it took him a moment to feel that he was held tightly in someone’s arms… and that he was alive.

Clutching onto the arms of whoever was holding him, he was fighting the panic in him, the ringing in his ears. After a few moments, he succeeded – somewhat. Looking around, he came face to face with possibly the last person he’d expected to see.

Yuuri.

“W-Wha?” He stuttered out.

“Victor… Don’t worry, I got you. I got here just in time. What did that merman want? Why was he trying to drag you away?”

“I… I… ?”

An expression of concern and kindness crossed the other man’s face. Victor found himself shifted a little, and then softly set down on the ground – a little back from the newly broken edge of the cliff. He had no idea how Yuuri had moved so effortlessly up the nearly vertical cliff… or how the other had found him.

Victor found himself feebly reaching out to the other, terror still roaring through him.

Yuuri clasped their fingers together, and something deep in him… settled. He forced himself to take a deep breath, then another. When he felt a little less… terrified, Victor tried to speak again.

“Yuuri… why are you here?”

The other man blushed a little.

“I heard you? Your… scream. I came as fast as I could.”

“And the… merman?”

“Mh, I fought him off. It’s good that you held on as long as you did. Do you know… what he wanted? Mermen avoid humans, usually.”

Victor lightly shook his head. Much as he had no choice, he hated lying to Yuuri.

“I… he was here when I came. Said he heard me sing. He tried to… take me with him.” That was as close to the truth as he could get.

“Oh no… that’s horrible! I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he’d do that. You aren’t… hurt, are you?”

Victor thought about it for a moment.

“My shoulder hurts a little. Nothing too bad.”

“I’m glad. Is there… do you have someone? Here? On the island?”

He immediately thought of Yakov – the old man would no doubt be able to help. He usually could.

“Sort of… a man. He lives further inland.”

“Inland… that… I can’t get there, I’m sorry. I don’t have legs. I’m okay close to the water, but…”

Victor shook his head no.

“You don’t have to do that! I appreciate you helping me at all. Without you… I might have died.”

“No, no, I’m sure you wouldn’t have. Mermaids aren’t aggressive. And you… can you swim?”

“No. The ocean… Yuuri, if I had fallen in, I’m sure I would have died. Thank you… thank you so much. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.”

The cecealia smiled at him again, further easing the storm of emotions he felt.

“There’s no need to thank me.”

“W-What about you? Did he hurt you? The merman?”

To his shock, Yuuri flinched a little and shifted.

“No, he didn’t.”

“Yuuri…”

“He didn’t, I swear! It’s just… it’s the rocks. I got hit by some debris, and I scratched myself a little. It’s no big deal.”

Victor huffed.

“No, no, let me see.”

Victor forced himself up, suddenly worried about the other. If he was anything like mermaids, Yuuri wouldn’t have bled much… but his tentacles looked much softer than Victor’s tail was.

After what was obviously some intense debating, Yuuri relaxed a little and turned to his side, revealing more of his tentacles. There was, indeed, a cut on one of them. Two cuts – one near the stubby tip and one close to Yuuri’s hip – where grey was turning to pale skin.

“I’m sorry you got hurt.” He mumbled as he reached out. Yuuri flinched when he got close to the cut on his hip, but accepted the touch. “Can I… help dress it? Clean it?”

Yakov had done that when he’d cut himself – he badly wanted to help Yuuri.

“Ah no, it wouldn’t help in the water. Sorry. But… it’s okay?”

“Yuuri! There must be something I can do to repay you?”

As if on cue, the cecealia’s stomach rumbled – Victor grinned.

“Wait here, I’ll get you some food!”

Stumbling awkwardly, his legs a lot more shaky than usual, Victor hurried back to his cottage. He knew there was more food than usual – he hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to eat much.

Grabbing the little basket filled with warm bread and some jam he liked, he hurried back. He did his best not to think about what had happened – what the appearance of Yuri meant for his future with Yuuri. He just… he wouldn’t let him interfere in his happiness.

Stumbling a little on his still shaky legs, Victor made it back to the cliff – only to see two people there. For a moment he feared it might be Yuri again, but no – the second person was brunette as well. A boy, a little younger than Yuuri probably, with pleasantly brown skin and dark hair. Victor didn’t know him, but he had some idea of what he was – he had the tell-tale markings of a naga – half-snake, with prominent gills along his throat and back. The creatures weren’t native to their part of the ocean – not at all, in fact, many of them chose to live in shallow lakes rather than in seawater, as far as he was aware.

He had to have come quite a long way. Victor had never met one before, actually – they were a rare kind of creature, all things considered. He approached more slowly now – clearly, this was Yuuri’s friend. Neither man had noticed him yet.

“-n’t lead him on, Yuuri!”

“I-I’m not! It just hasn’t come up!”

“When do you think it will? When you figure out the wedding invitations?” The naga made a hissing sound as he spoke – it didn’t appear to be his first language. Curioser and curioser.

Gulping, Victor closed the distance between them.

“Who’s getting married?” He asked with a cheerful voice – only slightly fake.


	12. Chapter 12

“Hm? Oh! You’re back. Victor, don’t be scared. This is Phichit. He’s a… he’s a naga? He won’t hurt you.”

Victor nodded – although he’d never met one before, he wasn’t exactly scared. Now that he was closer, he could see that the second man looked… young. Very young.

“It’s nice to meet you?” He addressed the naga, surprised when the only reply was a chuckle and a nod. Victor cleared his throat and continued. “I brought you the food. Would you like some as well, Phichit?”

He held out the basket to Yuuri who took it eagerly.

The naga seemed less keen but tried a few bites.

After a few more moments of silence, Victor repeated his question.

“Who’s getting married?”

Yuuri cleared his throat. “Absolutely nobody. Phichit here just thinks he’s funny.”

The naga made a hissing sound. “I’ll have you know I’m hilarious and I was _just_ telling Yuuri here that-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence – in a shockingly quick and agile motion, two of Yuuri’s tentacles shot out and smacked Phichit – right off the cliff and into the ocean.

Victor squawked in surprise, while Yuuri simply ate as if nothing had happened.

“Please don’t mind him. Phichit is… he’s the friend I told you about. Before. He’s… he’s a good friend but he can’t keep a secret to save his life.”

Victor inched a little closer. “Secret? What secret?”

Yuuri blushed again and ate his bread more quickly. Well, whatever it was, he clearly wasn’t about to tell Victor.

A shame, but…

Well, at least he’d gotten to meet one of Yuuri’s friends. A little odd, maybe, but he didn’t dislike the naga – and it was obvious he and Yuuri were close, cliff-throwing aside.

“Yuuri, you brute! Are you coming or what? I’m not gonna wait all day!” Phichit called from underneath the cliff – he didn’t seem too bothered that Yuuri had thrown him off apparently.

Finishing the last bite, Yuuri shot Victor an apologetic look.

“Sorry, I need to leave. It… I’m glad you weren’t hurt. And thanks for the food. Maybe you should stay away from the edge for a bit…?”

He forced a smile. “But then how can I see you? Or… are you not coming back?”

Yuuri chuckled. “No, no I will. When Phichit goes home again. In… about three days, I think. Until then, please be safe?” The cecealia shot him a worried look, studying him, as if to check for injuries again.

He nodded mutely and watched as Yuuri glanced down into the ocean, to where Phichit was, before elegantly hopping off in a nosedive, his tentacles wrapped tightly together to lessen the impact. It was a surprisingly smooth movement – if he had to guess, he’d say that Yuuri had done that sort of thing before, actually.

Victor was still staring at the cliff a good ten minutes later, trying to… process the last hour of his life.


	13. Chapter 13

Having a final date by which he could expect Yuuri back, Victor took his advice and stayed far from the beach and the cliff. He had no idea if Yuri came back for him or not, and he didn’t really care – he had other things on his mind.

Specifically, marriage things.

Phichit had joked about it, but…

But!

A wedding between him and Yuuri? No doubt it would be difficult if not impossible, but… he wanted it, more than he could say.

So, he decided that it was time to confess his feelings. Having three days to prepare didn’t seem enough – not even with Yakov’s VERY reluctant help.

He’d explained his desire to confess his feelings to someone with little hesitation, and had immediately asked for Yakov’s help in finding nicer clothes, advice on how to style his hair, and so on. The latter especially, the man had been reluctant to help with - no wonder given his own... less than full head of hair.

It was much easier to deal with his hair in the water, but that wasn’t an option anymore – no matter how much he missed his long hair.

He also went back and forth on whether or not to tell Yuuri the truth about his species. He was leaning towards ‘no’ – if Yuuri liked him as much as he hoped, it really made no difference, did it? And if he DID confess it – well, he was human now anyway, so there was no real upside to it, was there?

No, he decided, not worth it.

He had plenty of time to think about it in those three days – they felt more like months. Okay, so he knew that was a bit dramatic, but it was also… true.

Victor knew nothing about cecealia mating rituals, or even marriage proposals, and just as little about the human versions – so all he had to go on were merman traditions. It was common to prepare or create some decorations for one’s intended’s fins… but that wasn’t an option.

Hair jewellery was also a common option – it would work, save for that Victor had no access to anything he could turn into such jewellery.

In other words, he was stuck with himself, his singing, and hopefully, the right thing to say.

How hard could it be… right?

He sighed, for probably the hundredth time that morning. He’d been determined to wait until the afternoon, but even as the sun rose, he was already itching to go to the ocean and sing, to hopefully draw Yuuri to him.

He didn’t get too close to the edge of the water but stayed near enough to their usual rock by the beach that he’d be able to see Yuuri.

Putting his feelings – his love for Yuuri – into his voice, he opened his mouth, his eyes falling shut automatically as he sang. It had never mattered more. He didn’t just WANT Yuuri to know how he felt – he needed the cecealia to know.

He sang for what felt like hours, pouring everything he felt into his song. He was fairly sure that he heard a splash after a while – the sound of Yuuri arriving – but he didn’t stop. He wanted to finish his song for the other.

Only when his throat started to dry did he stop, finally opening his eyes for the first time in a while – indeed, Yuuri was sitting on the rock, his tentacles neatly folded around himself, tucked in. He was smiling – and blushing a little.

Throwing caution into the wind, Victor wandered closer to the other, his heart racing.

“Hello, Victor.” Yuuri greeted him, a hand brushing along a tentacle.

“Hi. Did your friend go home then?”

“Mhm. Sorry I couldn’t visit while he was here. Were you… did you have problems with the merman again?”

He mutely shook his head.

“I’m glad.”

“Did your injuries heal?” He blurted out – Yuuri stared for a moment before chuckling.

“Yes! I heal quickly. Look!”

He twisted and rose up a little, showing his hip to Victor – indeed, even when he stepped closer, there was no indication of any injury, not so much as a scratch.

“I’m relieved. Thank you, again.” Victor meant it – he owed Yuuri his life.

“It’s fine. That… your song… it was different today. Did something happen?”

Victor took a deep breath.

“Yes. Well, sort of. I… made a decision.”

Yuuri leaned closer, clearly curious, and Victor’s poor heart sped up even more as he tried to work up the courage to just tell the other already.

“Yuuri…” He began, only to break off.

“Mh?” The other man asked with a pleasant little smile that made Victor’s stomach feel all fluttery.

“I…I’m in love with you, Yuuri.” He finally blurted out when he could take it no longer.


	14. Chapter 14

Silence fell, only interrupted by the steady swoosh of the waves nearby – they were deafeningly loud to Victor’s ears as he waited for… a reaction.

The abject horror on Yuuri’s face wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for.

“W-Wha?” Yuuri stuttered. “V-Victor? That… no, no, that can’t be. It… you’re probably just a little confused because of last time.”

Victor winced. “No, I’m not. I know how I feel. And… I love you.” He asserted again, a little more calmly now that he’d said it. “I don’t have anything I can offer you – I, I don’t even know how your kind handles this, but I just… I needed you to know.”

Yuuri shrunk back on the rock, putting a bit more distance between them.

“Y-You? But _why_? I thought we were just… friends?”

He clenched his hands into fists, tears stinging in his eyes. “We are friends, but… I’ve always been singing for you. Every song, every day. Because… of how I feel about you.”

Yuuri shrunk back further and the first tear fell, his vision blurring at the edges.

“Victor, I’m so sorry. I… I had no idea. But… I can’t return your feelings. I’m sorry.” Yuuri said, his voice soft, gentle.

To Victor’s surprise, the cecealia approached him, pulling himself up so they were the same height. Cool fingers brushed over his cheek, wiping away some of the tears there.

“ _Why_?” He blurted out, more tears spilling.

“I… T-There is someone. Someone that I’ve been in love with for a long time. He… you reminded me of him, actually. When I first came to see you, I was a bit surprised by how much you had in common with him, but I… I’m sorry, I’m not ready to give up on those feelings.”

Victor sobbed – Yuuri hadn’t said anything about someone else when he’d asked about his lovers before – was it recent? Had he just waited too long?

He stepped back a little, out of Yuuri’s reach.

“A-And you’re with him? Is he like you?” He gestured towards Yuuri’s tentacles.

The other man laughed weakly. “No. He… He’s something else. A merman, actually.”

A merman.

A mixture of grief, rage, and despair gripped Victor’s heart. Yuuri had feelings for a MERMAN? So, Victor had never had a chance, no matter his species? He felt sick.

“A merman? I thought cecealias and mermaids hated each other.” He blurted out, uncaring that he wasn’t supposed to know that.

Yuuri looked flustered and shrugged. “Y-Yes. We do, sort of, but I never really cared about all that. M-My family, they raised me to be nice to anyone, no matter what. Besides, I’ve never had a bad experience with mermaids, and… why, uh, why does it matter?”

Victor sobbed more loudly.

It didn’t, clearly.

Nothing mattered – he’d thrown away his life for a chance at happiness… and he couldn’t have it.

Yuuri cared for someone else. Loved someone else.

He didn’t even have it in him to be jealous – he couldn’t begrudge that merman Yuuri’s affections, however much he wanted them for himself.

“Victor!” Yuuri called out – he realised, distractedly, that he’d stumbled away from Yuuri a few more steps. He couldn’t stop though, not any more than he could have taken back what he’d said. So, he let his feet go where they would – along the beach, up the cliff where he’d first met Yuuri.

He wasn’t even sure why, at least not until he reached the very edge, the earth still rough from where part of it had broken off in his struggle with the other Yuri.

He stared down at the blue ocean underneath, his tears falling over the edge and into the water, and suddenly he _understood_ , understood why his treacherous legs had carried him there of all places. The things he’d traded for his fins – he’d never hated them more.

Victor could vaguely hear Yuuri calling out to him again, his voice drawing nearer – no doubt the other man was faster in the water than Yuuri was on land, but he didn’t want to see him now.

No doubt Yuuri would make him feel better, apologise, explain… he didn’t want that.

What he wanted was for Yuuri to love him… and if he couldn’t have that, he’d settle for the cool embrace of the ocean one more time.

He bent his legs and, with all the strength his legs had, pushed himself off the edge of the cliff, limply falling towards the surface of the water.


	15. Chapter 15

It was incredibly disorienting for a few moments – not just the feel of the water around him, but the fact that he could feel anything at all.

Surely, seafoam can’t feel?

On instinct, he moved his arms, steadying himself as he sank lower in the water. No, he definitely still had arms – and then, a moment later, intense pain rocketed through every cell of his body, his lungs spasming as they failed to draw air, his fingers uselessly scratching at his throat, eyes clenched shut.

He realised, in shock, that apparently, it was a delayed reaction, and that he hadn’t been ready for the pain it would bring him to die, but that he still didn’t regret not staying on the island, and then…

Then he could breathe.

His eyes opened with a shocked breath as he nearly choked on a sudden something in his mouth. He spat it out – to his shock, it was a small pearl, the same one he’d received from Lilia. He watched as it floated up, not down, only to dissolve into foam, quickly dispersed by the water before him.

Next, he noticed other things – like his hair, long once again, unkempt and floating around him, bare of its usual decorations. He looked along his body, gasping when his eyes trailed along his fin. It looked just like it had before – the same blue, extravagant shape he’d had since puberty.

He cautiously moved it, taking a moment to get used to it again, his body instinctively moving, righting him in the water. He weakly fought his hair, brushing it backwards with his fingers as he tried to understand what had happened – had Lilia’s spell failed? Malfunctioned?

“Victor!” A panicked shout from behind him sounded – he shot around immediately, as his more… immediate issues raced back to the forefront of his mind.

Yuuri was swimming towards him at incredible speeds, his expression one of pure terror.

His heart felt like it broke a second time once Yuuri stopped before him, his eyes roaming Victor’s form repeatedly.

He gulped, his fingers shaking.

“V-Victor?” Yuuri stuttered, looking a little like Victor felt.

He tried to speak, having to cough a few times until he could get the words out.

“Y-Yuuri, I…” He began, before wincing – his throat felt like sandpaper suddenly.

“You’re not… human.” The cecealia said, his eyes glued to Victor’s tail.

“I’m not.”

“Y-You’re YOU!” The brunette screeched next, his tentacles squirming and slowly shifting him away from Victor.

“I-I’m what?”

“You- This- What?” Yuuri stuttered, visibly panicking. Before Victor could say anything else, Yuuri shot around and swam off – he gave chase immediately.


	16. Chapter 16

Yuuri was FAST, it turned out. Victor was too, but he hadn’t swum in months, and his tail was cramping as he tried to keep pace with the fleeing cecealia. He followed blindly – he had no idea where the other one was headed to, but it was clearly deliberate.

His mind was spinning at a thousand miles an hour – yes, Yuuri had been shocked, but it hadn’t looked like he’d been shocked about quite the same thing Victor was… and that was odd. He could have understood pure confusion about him being a merman, but why was Yuuri shocked about who he was? They’d been friends for months.

He was panting by the time Yuuri first slowed down – near a low entrance to a small cave system. It was quite far from where Victor’s home used to be… but not that far from Lilia’s cave, he realised.

He also realised that he’d paused too long – Yuuri was just slipping out of view, around a rock. Cursing quietly, Victor followed, ignoring the way his tail was already aching. Although he was fast, he wasn’t built for endurance – mermaids were apex predators, they didn’t need the kind of stamina that some sea creatures relied on.

Following Yuuri, he quickly realised he’d messed up – he couldn’t tell exactly where the other had gone – there were dozens of possible entrances, paths, and crevices, just at first glance.

He had no way to find Yuuri – or at least he wouldn’t have, had it not been for a heart-breaking sound that gripped his heart like a wrench – a sob.

Yuuri was… crying.

The faint sound came from his left – he slowly inched towards it, trying to discern its exact place of origin.

It turned out easy enough to find – hidden behind some overhanging rocks was the perfectly round entrance to what Victor could only assume was Yuuri’s home – and he could hear the crying from within.

Putting aside how rude it was to just enter someone’s home, he swam straight in – consoling Yuuri was more important than manners.

Consoling Yuuri, and finding out what was going on, anyway.

Finding him in the cave proved easy – though large, it was mostly empty, and Yuuri was laying on the bed near the far wall of the main cavern. Victor wasn’t sure if Yuuri knew he was there when he inched closer – the cecealia was laying face-down, head firmly pressed into a pillow of woven algae.

He gulped, and almost reluctantly opened his mouth.

“Yuuri?”

The other had clearly NOT known he was there – he swam nearly two feet up off the bed, holding the pillow in front of himself almost like some kind of shield – not that Victor was about to attack him.

His heart clenched at how puffy Yuuri’s face was – he really had been crying.

“Victor! I-If that’s even your name. Why did you follow me?” Yuuri snapped.

He reared back a bit, but caught himself.

“Of course it’s my name. I… I followed you… to explain?”

“Explain what?! That you lied to me? That… that you just made fun of me?”

“I… what? I never made fun of you! I mean yes, I lied but only because I-“

“NO!” Yuuri snarled, interrupting him mid-sentence.

His mouth snapped shut and he flinched, staring as Yuuri’s obvious upset swung firmly into anger – he looked beautiful like that, even if Victor was starting to worry a little about him… some of his tentacles were definitely starting to look a bit murderous.

He gulped.

“You… you LIED to me! You pretended you were human!” Yuuri said, his voice a little too shrill.

He nodded mutely – it was clear Yuuri wasn’t done. “Y-You deceived me! For months! I… I thought you were my friend! Just… just some human that liked to sing… and then… today? Was that fun for you?” Yuuri asked, his fingers tugging on the algae pillow.

Victor shook his head in shock. “Fun? What? No! I… I had no idea what would happen! Yuuri, I don’t know what you _think_ happened, but I want to explain! I-”

“No!” Yuuri snapped again. “I don’t want to hear it! I-I know it anyway! You… how could you?”

“I’m sorry, Yuuri! I never meant to hurt you! And I only lied about being human – I…”

This time it was Yuuri’s furious gaze that silenced him. The cecealia wasn’t hearing him, clearly.

“This… this! I can’t take this!” Yuuri snarled, throwing the pillow down and pushing past Victor, towards some cupboards along one wall.

He watched mutely as Yuuri threw some things into a shoulder bag, before slinging it around his back and turning towards Victor again.

“I… I’m leaving.” He said, before darting out the entrance again – Victor immediately tried to follow, but this time, he really couldn’t – his tail was sluggish, sore and he could feel the lower part of it cramping as soon as he tried to follow.

All he could do was stare in physical and emotional agony as the man he loved swam away.


End file.
